Hello there everyone, and welcome to the Official Pokémon: Liquid Crystal forum thread. I'm Linkandzelda, and maybe you heard of me before, maybe not. I started working on this alone around April 2007 with the intention for it to be a one person project, this meaning a solo hack. After the first major release it quickly became popular and the demands rose for higher quality and faster development, so I decided to appoint Synyster_Zeikku as Co-Owner to work mainly on Graphical aspects of the game. After 5 years of development as we enter 2013, we have a small team in place of dedicated ROM Hackers.

~The Development Team~

With any major project there comes a Development Team to hold things together and to get the project moving forward. This is the development team for the Pokémon: Liquid Crystal Project.

Special Thanks
Sometimes there’s a time when we can’t do everything ourselves and have to recruit help from external sources. This is a list of people that we turned to for help and support during the course of development.

Spoiler:

Linkandzelda’s_mum – Thinking of the name Liquid Crystal and for supporting the project.
foullump – For helping me start to script.
zel – For helping me script and letting me use his hero back sprites from the old SG. World map tiles, frontier brains music & various sprites.
thethethethe – General help with problems.
JVG – Fixing the title screen fantasticly. (even though we have a new one for the next release.)
shadowboy166 – Fixing the male, female sprites in oak intro. (We have new ones now though.)
Ssyn, kid nino, megiddo and Black Charizard, Wataru-Kun, .com – Beta testing.
Keyrin – Battle Sprites.
Marnaic – OW Boy Sprite.
Spriters resource – Some More Tiles.
CloneX- Music.
Bombah!/Ryu – Some OW Sprites.
AmineX – Doing some remixes for me.
megiddo – Help with music remixing and looping some music.
gridiron – Bag.
PHO/Alistair – Lighthouse Tile and other tiles.
Magnius: Using some of his excellent remixes and beta testing.
~Teh Panda~: Some maps for the Orange Islands.
Hackmew: For making excellent tools and helping, overcoming some limits and help with general situations.
Pokepal17: outdoor gym building, general help and solutions, Inserting the new worldmap and tiles, some johto remaps. Cheers dude .
Sergio: Orange islands first gym leader sprite.
Lucifer the king of hell: Sprites.
Dirk123: For his amazing Walthrough and locations FAQ.
Mitchel1: Mapping out an awesome Goldenrod map.
Ray Maverick – Mapping some excellent Johto remakes.
Plat – Some excellent map remakes!!
ZodiacDaGreat/Kawai & Interpdth – RTC + Day/night system for FireRed.
Blues003 – Pokemon lineups for Gym Leader rematches, Zane and Axel.
JorgeZero – Testing, music and battle backgrounds.
Darthron – Animated titlescreen.
Jambo51 – Responsible for pretty much all of the newest and greatest additions to LC 3.1.
ShinyDragonHunter – Beta testing.
Horus/Seth – Beta testing and support.
Magnius – Latest orange islands original mixes & beta testing.
Diegoisawesome – general support, asm fixes and additions.
Algratue – A lot of the music included in beta 3.1 & OW sprites.
Mateo - Celebi Ilex Forest Shrine tiles.

Did you do something for the Pokémon: Liquid Crystal Project and have not received due credit? Use the link below to Send A Message and we will add you to the list!

~Hack info & Story~

Pokémon: Liquid Crystal is a ROM Hack developed for the GameBoy Advanced system using FireRed V1.0 as the base ROM. It’s a complete remake of the Original Pokémon Crystal game from the GameBoy Color. The story is the same as the Original Crystal with a load of extra events and even a brand new region to explore; the Orange Islands.

While playing Pokémon: Liquid Crystal you will experience the original main story from Pokémon Crystal, with additional events placed in and around it. Expect to see new evil teams, rivals, and other twists throughout.

~Main Features~

Pokémon: Liquid Crystal has a wide range of awesome features for you to enjoy. This is what we think are the top ones.

~Updated Graphics & Maps~

Make your way through the game while setting eyes on some of the Greatest Graphics & Maps ever seen in a Pokémon Game! Every single map from the Original Crystal has been Revamped and Remastered into a set of amazing Maps like none before. With new Tiles & Palettes bringing Johto & Kanto to life once again!

~Day & Night~

Experience Real Time events and Visuals with the Day & Night system in Pokémon: Liquid Crystal! Travel through 5 different times including Morning, Day, Sunset, Evening and Night! Just like in the Original Crystal Version when the sun went down and came up again based on Real Time. Weekly events happening all over, with certain things happening every day in the game! When it goes dark in the real world, the sun goes down in Pokémon: Liquid Crystal.

~Relive Johto & Kanto~

Relive the adventures of the Johto & Kanto regions with glorious Graphics and Music, and even some new faces! Experience a nostalgia attack like never before as you travel through the Routes and Towns of one of the best Pokémon regions ever created.

~Experience The Orange Islands~

Take part in a completely new story line on the never before seen Orange Islands region! After the events of Johto & Kanto, Zane goes out of control in the Orange Islands. Play through a new chapter in the story and unlock some of the deepest secrets.

~Revamped Battle Scenarios~

Battle Trainers & Pokémon with Real Scenarios like Water, Sand and Grass! Just like in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl from the Nintendo DS, Pokémon: Liquid Crystal has enhanced battle scenarios to help make those battles even more realistic.

~Explore New & Hidden Areas~

Search far and wide to reach New Places and Hidden Areas never seen before! There’s tons of new areas that were not there in the Original Crystal just waiting to be found. With the new Open Ocean, you can surf and explore the complete map, so who knows what you will find!

~Dive Underground~

Just like in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire, you can Dive down to the bottom of the ocean and explore deep caves to find new Items and Pokémon. Now, In Pokémon: Liquid Crystal you can Dive to the depths of Johto & Kanto to uncover deep secrets!

~Real Season Based Weather Effects~

Travel through the vast lands while experiencing Real Time Season-based Weather Effects! Travel the lands while being hit with Snow, Rain, Thunder and other Weathers! Based on the Japanese weather patterns, expect to find yourself immersed in a downpour of fierce storms during Spring, and heavy Snow Fall during the Winter.

~Updated Battle Mechanics~
Battle your way through with a new Battle Mechanic. Earn EXP like In Black & White! Pokémon: Liquid Crystal incorporates a unique system to any other GameBoy Advance Pokémon Game, with the enhanced EXP system it changes the way you battle forever!

Also included is the Physical/Special Split introduced in the Generation 4 games for the Nintendo DS. Now you can make the most of your Pokémon’s Power while they use powers they could never use before!

~Additional Features~
In addition to all the above features, we have implemented a ton of other amazing features:

This obviously isn't be a 100% accurate remake, it does/will have differences.

Remixes of Johto, Kanto and Orange Islands music

New battle music for Rivals

Raised Pokémon levels for increased difficulty

Redone move-sets for Rivals and Gym Leaders

Extra in-game trades for obtaining new Pokémon

New OWs for Gym Leaders & more

Day & Night Music - more in the future!

Vast addition of new Pokémon & Trainer sprites

Brand new move tutors

New scripts, events and secrets to discover

New Rivals and other extra battles.

A new berry system, allowing people to grow their own berries.

"Sliding Panels" - Ruins of Alph Puzzle.

D/P/P Fonts and Textbox.

Much much much more waiting for you!

~Media~

Here you can see some of the best Screenshots, Videos, Music and other media.

~Screenshots~

Spoiler:

~Trailers~
Before a release we like to hype things up by releasing an epic Trailer showing off the game and announcing new features. The first of these 2 Trailers was created for the 3.1 Beta Version set to be released in 2011. The second Trailer was to announce the release date of the 3.1 Beta Version, being December 25th 2011.

~Showcase Videos~
Sometimes, we just feel like posting random videos to show off a new Feature or just a random piece of the game.

~Other Videos~

Spoiler:

~Story Events~
From time to time we like to upload a demonstration of a Script or a Story event that happens in the game. Be warned! Do not watch these videos unless you don't mind spoilers.

Spoiler:

Work In Progress
Work in progress is always fun, and we like to show off the latest and greatest things in Pokémon: Liquid Crystal for all upcoming features.

In The Beginning
Pokémon: Liquid Crystal started in July 2007, and this is what it looked like back in the early days of development. It's incredible how far it's come since then.

Notable Bugs
During development, we came across some pretty funny and amazing bugs. Thought we would share some of the best with you.

~Banners & Fan Art~
Here is a showcase of all the Fan Art and Banners people have made to support Pokémon: Liquid Crystal. Keep it up guys, your support is greatly welcomed!

Spoiler:

Credits to Bombah for this awsome art work. Keep it up dude

Ever go onto Forums? Feel like showing that you’re a Pokémon: Liquid Crystal Supporter? Feel free to place one of these banners in your signature to show your support. Use the BB code provided to add the banner to your signature.

~Received Awards~

Over the course of Pokémon: Liquid Crystal's Development, it's received a few Awards from different communities where it used to be maintained.

~Annual Hack Award~
The Annual Hack Award is an Award given to a hack which has been chosen to be the best of the current year out of all actively maintained hacks on the community. This Award was given to Pokémon: Liquid Crystal at the time when Beta 1.1 was first released on Pkmn Hackers Online, a popular ROM Hacking forum now known as ROM Hackers Online and actively maintained by me.

~Hack of the Month~
The Hack of the Month is a competition which goes on at the Pokécommunity forums. A group of people will vote the best hacks from the month, and the public will vote for the best one. In April 2009, on the 25th Pokémon: Liquid Crystal 2.1 was released on the Forums there. It was given this award on the same month.

~Hack of the Year~
Hack of the Year is one of the biggest ROM Hacking competitions on the Pokécommunity Forums. They give various Awards to different hacks under a set amount of categories. In 2010, Pokémon: Liquid Crystal received first place for the Best Gameplay Award, along with some other Awards too.

~Frequently Asked Questions~

We get a lot of questions asked every day about Pokémon: Liquid Crystal, so we decided to answer some of the most asked questions here in this list. Please make sure to read this section before posting to ask a question.

Spoiler:

Q: Where's the download patch?
A: Look down... The download links are maintained at the bottom of the post.

Q: Why can't I save in Pokemon: Liquid Crystal?
A: Well, in reality, you just can't save in FR. But to fix that just make sure to go to Options->Emulator->Save Type->Flash 128K in your Visual Boy emulator.

Q: Why does the Day & Night not work?
A: You need to use the emulator provided at the end of this post for full RTC support.

Q: I found a bug what should I do?
A: Post a bug report to inform us, we'll get round to fixing it and patching the Live Beta.

Q: Are you able to trade from Liquid Crystal to other games?
A: Trading is currently implemented but does not function. We're looking into fixing it.

Q: Do I need to restart my game to play the newest Beta?
A: You must re-patch onto a new ROM for every new Live Beta download, you can simply re-use your old save as before unless otherwise stated on the release.

Q: I want to offer you guys some help.
A: If you think it will truly benefit Liquid Crystal, let us know and we can see.

Q: When will the next beta be released?
A: We work using a Live Beta, this means we make up to 100 "releases" per day adding and patching things. More info on this further down.

Q: Are all Pokémon gonna be in?
A: Correct. Since Hoenn poke live in Johto and Kanto (but very rare).

Q: How about fourth generation poke?
A: Nope. There should be enough poke to have enough fun.

Q: Will Hoenn/Battle Frontier/Sevii/Orange Islands be in?
A: We are currently working hard on adding the remaining Orange Islands.

Q: Is Celebi's event in?
A: Celebi is not yet obtainable, but will be very soon.

Q: Will you insert G/S/C music?
A: We already have all the G/S/C songs inserted, pretty much.

Q: Will mom save us our money?
A: Nope. It's not really needed in all honesty but is planned for the future.

Q: What happened to the legendary dogs?
A: It's just like crystal, and the same event's from that work in LC (Liquid Crystal).

Q: How do the Trading-evolution pokes evolve?
A: Every trade-evolution Pokémon has a new method of evolution.

Q: When will the Bug Catching Contest work?
A: It's on the list of things to add soon.

Q: What will you do after finishing LC?
A: I have a few other hacks planned after LC, we'll see if I get round to finishing them.

Q: When will the final be out and released?
A: This is something we can't say, as you never know what comes up next to halt development. It will be finished when it get's finished.

~Bugs & Glitches~

We make a huge effort to document and fix all reported bugs at some point during development. We can't do that if people don't report them, so here is how to correctly report a bug:

Use the form below as an example:

Quote:

Build Number: 3.3.00100
Bug/Glitch Description: I can't fly when using Fly from the Pokémon menu, the same thing happens when using Surf and other field moves.

The current build can be found on the Introduction Text when you begin a new game, on the first page at the bottom. It's important that we get as much information as possible in as easy to read format as possible so we can fix it and release as soon as possible. Here's how not to report a bug:

Spoiler:

hi am playing pkmn liquid crystala nd my starer ail not evovle what do i do i realy want t play more plz help me!

~Where To Report Bugs~
I'll accept a bug report from any of the following listed places.

Please only use one of the above methods, not YouTube Comments or Visitor Messages.

~How We Release Updates: The Live Beta Explained~

The Live Beta system is a system where we make constant releases and patches by incrementing a build number and uploading the new IPS. We then keep adding to this IPS and people can download the new one instantly. Here's how it works in a nutshell.

We work on a new feature or fix a bug in Liquid Crystal.

We then change the build number on the Game Introduction Text.

We then record what we changed/fixed in the ROM.

We then create and upload a new IPS release for download.

You can then download it within seconds of us fixing it.

If you have any questions about the Live Beta, then feel free to ask, or if you don't understand how the Live Beta works, then read this post for a more detailed explanation. The key thing to remember is, check the Build Number and the Diary below, as well as remember the download link and file name never changes.

~The Liquid Crystal Development Diary~
Whenever we make a notable fix we let you know right away. A member of the team will post a message informing people of the change over on the Pokémon Liquid Crystal Project Page on ROM Hackers Online Social. If you want to get constant updates on what's going on, you will find all the latest updates on that page.

~Build History~
With every build increment we make we write down the date and time, the old Build Number and the new Build Number, along with a short description of what the fix/change was. Here's what a single entry looks like:

Quote:

03/01/2013 19:19:20: Build changed from 3.3.00089 to 3.3.00090. Fixed various small errors.

The current build can be found on the Introduction Text when you begin a new game, on the first page at the bottom.

We have a full list of these accessible from the page linked above, as well as right here. It's a good idea to bookmark this link so you can check it to see when something changed and if you need to re-download it.

I introduce the @PkmnLCUpdates Twitter account. From now on when I update the build, the changes will be tweeted to this account. Simply follow this and you'll be notified of new builds instantly. Please note however that this is not a Pokémon Liquid Crystal Twitter account for everything, it's only for build update notifications and nothing else, so it will not respond to any messages and/or followers.

Also, if you get into my IRC on the #romhacking or #liquidcrystal channels, you can type ".lcbuild" and you will be given the latest build change automatically. Just a quick shortcut, you can get in via the Official Liquid Crystal site or RHO.

~Required Emulator For Proper Playing~
Due to new hacks performed on the latest version of Liquid Crystal, the emulator required to play the hack is Visual Boy Advance 1.8.0 Beta 3. Other emulators such as Gpsp and Gameboid are currently supported, and I'm working on adding full support for Flash Carts. I prepared a pack which includes ticked options for playing the latest version of Pokémon: Liquid Crystal.

This can be downloaded from here from the Official Pokémon: Liquid Crystal site at the bottom of the page.

~The Downloads & Useful Links~

So, here it is, the download link for the Live Beta IPS patch. Remember to read everything in this thread/page before playing and asking questions. The download page will contain a list of mirrors, which are all suitable if available.